Welcome to 2024 y’all. Lawyers spend an inordinate (but not actually unduly excessive) amount of time worried about making mistakes that involve sending the wrong information to the wrong people. For lawyers in most U.S. jurisdictions, the ethics rules do not provide truly comprehensive guidance about how to fix such a mistake because the ethics […]
Tag: RPC 4.4
Let’s talk about this week’s big legal news. No, not that. No, also not that. Okay, in the interest of accuracy, I should say let’s talk about something that was big legal news this week within some circles and has an easy hook into discussing attorney ethics rules. Yes, you’ve now guessed it – the […]
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“In representing a client” … again
We’ve trod this path before, but the issuance of the most recent ABA Formal Ethics Opinion justifies renewed discussion of the topic. Particularly when the opinion in question is of the rare variety where there is a dissent included in the opinion. The path (our topic): Does Model Rule 4.2 apply to a lawyer when […]
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“In representing a client …”
I’ve written in this space in the past before about how there are many ethics rules that limit their application to lawyers such that they do not kick in unless a lawyer is representing a client. Perhaps, most prominently, this point has been dwelt upon when talking about the efforts to convince jurisdictions to enact […]
Today’s entry is something of a dodge in a way (I sort of wanted to pile on about this and make the point that it is a much sounder development than this was) and something of knocking down a hastily-created strawman in another respect. But what it mostly amounts to is pursuing a not-yet-fully-formed thesis […]
Frankly, civil behavior by lawyers toward other lawyers certainly is on the list of things the world needs a healthy dose of, but, well, let’s just say maybe it’s not a top-10 item on the list. So, the point of today’s post is not to be the guy who claims that lawyers shouldn’t have to […]
Readers of this space know that a large part of my practice involves representing lawyers in disciplinary proceedings. Disciplinary proceedings are difficult for all that are involved, but rarely can anyone involved question that they don’t know the stakes. They are what they are and they have their own rules and procedures. Today’s post involves […]
So, I am certain you have heard by now that a little under a week ago the ABA issued a new Formal Ethics Opinion to address the ethical obligations of lawyers in the aftermath of a cyber-attack or an electronic data breach. ABA Opinion 483 makes for a good read and provides good guidance about […]
It is still astounding (as well as deeply dispiriting) that the context of the discussion I’m about to launch is the work of White House Counsel but this is the world we currently occupy. You may very well have read this fascinating The Washington Post article by now released in connection with the ongoing news story […]
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Idaho why I insist on punny titles.
So, those familiar with this space may remember I have written a bit from time-to-time about Tennessee’s proposed rule revision to adopt a modified version of ABA Model Rule 8.4(g). The future of the proposal is still up in the air and the public comment period continues to run until March 21, 2018. If you […]